Pindrop Secures $75M from Google Capital to Pummel Phone Fraud

Pindrop, a security startup specializing in voice-fraud prevention and authentication, announced today that it raised a $75 million Series C. The funding round led by Google Capital brings the Peach State pioneer’s total funding to date to $122 million.

Pindrop battles fraud by analyzing and assigning risk to phone calls. Its signature “acoustic fingerprinting” technology currently screens the calls of three of the four largest banks in the US, as well as government agencies, insurance companies, and retailers. Its evaluation of more than 360 million calls has saved tens of millions of dollars to its users.

“Voice fraud is a large, expensive and unsolved problem for many enterprises, and Pindrop is taking a truly unique approach, helping its customers save millions of dollars by preventing voice fraud,” said Gene Frantz, partner at Google Capital. “As voice commands become the standard across intelligent assistants, cars, and the Internet of Things, Pindrop is creating the leading authentication and security solution for this exploding market. We are excited to be an investor based on the company’s momentum, unique technology and large market opportunity.”

With increased attention to physical security and cybersecurity, criminals are reportedly shifting to the telephone to get their chunk of the $2 billion in phone fraud and identity theft reported each year in the US. Pindrop’s adaptive machine learning addresses the issue, boasting the ability to detect over 80% of fraudulent voice activity within 30 seconds.

Founded in 2011 by Vijay Balasubramaniyan and Mustaque Ahamad, the Atlanta company has raised $110 million in a year with a $35 million round completed last February. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Citi Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Google Capital, GV and IVP.